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Our body requires oxygen to survive but sometimes despite all conventional treatments our body simply can’t get the oxygen it needs that’s where Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (or ECMO) comes in. ECMO keeps oxygen and blood pumping through the lungs and heart, keeping those at high risk of death alive but it comes with its own set of complications.
While any surgery is a physical shock to the body, major surgeries such as open heart and transplant are some of the most traumatic with the longest recoveries. Amazingly, although Cardiopulmonary bypass is used in the majority of heart surgeries in Australia each year, we are still unaware of many of the effects bypass could be having on the body, including the ability to process vital medications critical to recovery.
Currently, the organ and tissue transplant waiting list sits at about 1,500 Australian patients. Of these people, 60 are waiting for a new heart to beat in their chest and give them a second chance at life...
Tens of thousands of lives have been saved by extracorporeal life support. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is only used for the most ill of ill patients; patients that need more...
With 1 in every 3 Australians needing a blood transfusion in their lifetime, Monica Ng wants to reduce the risks and complications associated with the transfusion procedure. Having identified evidence that the period of time packed red blood cells are stored can be associated with poor clinical outcomes, Monica has set out to discover exactly what storage and the act of transfusion itself is doing to blood, and how that is translating in patients.
A fever, chills down your spine, heart racing and nausea; these are all things you might feel if you have severe infection (or sepsis). In Australia, severe infection will hospitalise about 15,000 people, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends they are treated one of two ways; fluid resuscitation and/or blood transfusion. However, alarmingly, an award-winning study has revealed that these guidelines could actually lead to heart failure and vascular collapse.
Approximately 40% patients undergoing cardiac surgery alone will require a blood transfusion at The Prince Charles Hospital alone. It has been found that these patients have an increased risk infection and even death than those who do not receive a blood transfusion. But why is this the case?
Right now, you're on a computer or scrolling through your phone, mostly likely without any pain or difficulty. If you're one of the 1.8 million Australians with osteoarthritis, that may not be the case.
Your heart is pounding in your chest and it feels like you can’t breathe. As you start to sweat, a wave of fear is washing over you. What is happening? you think as your mind starts racing. This is what stress can feel like. It’s also how our joint cells feel when they are experiencing oxidative stress, which appears to be a major contributor in developing osteoarthritis.